Venkatesh describes how his upbringing in a religious Hindu family led initially to spiritual questioning about the nature of God and then to the practice of Transcendental Meditation.  Venkatesh discusses how he came to give up his successful career in business to follow a path of self-knowledge. He outlines the rigorous daily programme of work and study at the Sivananda ashram, where he followed a progressive path of both Jnana and Bhakti yoga. A spontaneous decision to visit the Ramana Maharshi ashram at Tiruvannamalai, resulted in him falling in love with Ramana’s teaching and seeing that all the sages were saying the same thing – that this inward journey is the most important purpose of life. We go on to discuss a number of aspects of Ramana’s teaching, including the basic ‘who am I’ practice, how to overcome the frustration of thoughts that keep flooding back, and how to deal with blank states. He explains the importance of questioning, and the connection between questioning, openness and not-knowing. Supported by his faith in the teaching and a strong desire for liberation he describes how he discovered the unchanging, inner joy of living as pure consciousness, ‘an instrument in the hands of the Lord’. For more information on the Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, including access to Venkatesh’s talks, visit their website http://www.ramanacentre.com/ Support the showIf you are interested in exploring spiritual awakening, we invite you to register for our free 7 Days to Awakening self study course, created by Lisa Natoli and Bill Free. Learn more about the The Awareness Podcast and access show notes for every episode at: www.teachersofgod.org/podcast Learn more about The Teachers of God Foundation at: www.teachersofgod.org Original music by Omashar